From Modern to Paternalistic

The concept of the High Performance Work System (HPWS) is a comparativelyrecent development in Human Resource Management (HRM). An HPWS is a worksystem comprising of various employment relations practices intended to createcompetitive advantage by integrating the firm’s strategic objectives with thecommitment, engagement and participation of employees. Practices covered underthe HPWS umbrella might include employee empowerment through access to thedecision making process, performance related rewards, commitment to qualitystandards, and flexible working practices.In reality, however, HPW systems are just one way of linking employment relations (ER)practices and the performance of the firm. Their use as an organisation-wide systemis not yet widespread. And they may well not be an appropriate way for small andmedium enterprises (SMEs), which constitute over 95 per cent of businesses in theUK, to think about the relationship between employment relations and performance.[...]